Ashoka was born in 304 BCE in Patna. An emperor of the Mauryan dynasty, Ashoka ruled most of the Indian subcontinent from his capital at Pataliputra. According to tradition, he was shocked by the suffering caused by his conquest of Kalinga and turned to Buddhism, adopting a policy he called dhamma, based on non-violence, tolerance and welfare. He had his edicts carved on rocks and pillars across his empire, the earliest deciphered Indian inscriptions, and he sent missions to Sri Lanka and elsewhere. He built roads, rest houses and stupas. The lion capital of one of his pillars at Sarnath is the national emblem of modern India.
Before and after
- from 311 BCE to 309 BCEBabylonian War
- from 306 BCE to 168 BCEAntigonid dynasty
- from 305 BCE to 30 BCEPtolemaic dynasty
- from 305 BCE to 30 BCEPtolemaic Kingdom
- 304 BCEBirth of Ashoka
- from 4th century BCE to 5th centuryOrigins of Tanais
- 4th century BCEElements
- from 4th century BCE to 5th centuryXiongnu
- 4th century BCEPublication of Arthashastra
More in Wars, politics & history
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- from 74 BCE to 72 BCEThe slave revolt of Spartacus
- from 73 BCE to 71 BCEThird Servile War
- 24 August 410 CEAlaric and the Visigoths sack Rome
- 451 CEAetius and Theodoric stop Attila at the Catalaunian Plains
- 476 CEFall of the western Roman Empire
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 4th century BCE.